Evidence-based summary of optimal home self-management for elderly ostomy patients.

Background: Given the aging population and increasing incidence of severe intestinal diseases, elderly ostomy patients face home self-management challenges with insufficient care capacity, and the lack of systematically integrated evidence for their specific needs necessitates summarizing the best evidence to support clinical care and improve their quality of life. Methods: A computerized literature search was systematically performed to identify studies focusing on home stoma self-management among elderly ostomy patients. The search was conducted across multiple sources, including domestic and international guideline platforms, official websites of relevant institutions, and major academic databases. Eligible literature included clinical practice guidelines, clinical decision-making tools, expert consensus statements, systematic reviews, and evidence summaries. Literature was searched from January 2015 to October 2025 in the following resources. Results: A total of 15 high-quality studies were included, encompassing six core domains: self-management goals, stoma assessment, psychological adjustment, dietary management, behavioral management and medication management. Conclusion: A total of 36 pieces of evidence were summarized in this study, which fills the gap of systematically integrated evidence for home stoma self-management in elderly ostomy patients. However, given that this evidence was derived from diverse countries with diverse healthcare systems and contexts, its clinical application should be tailored to the specific clinical conditions and individual needs of this population. Future research should focus on developing more targeted, evidence-based interventions to optimize home stoma self-management for elderly ostomy patients. Reporting method: This evidence summary followed the reporting specifications for evidence summaries developed by the Fudan University Center for Evidence-based Nursing, which were based on the methodological framework for evidence summaries produced by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). The reporting process included establishing the evidence-based question, literature retrieval, literature screening, quality appraisal, evidence synthesis and grading, and development of practice recommendations. This study was registered in the evidence summary registration system of Fudan University Center for Evidence-based nursing under the title "Evidence-based summary of optimal home self-management for elderly ostomy patients" with the registration number ES20246036. Patient or public participation: No direct on-site patient or public participants were recruited for this literature-based evidence summary. All patient-related experiences and practical perspectives were extracted and integrated from the included published studies to ensure the applicability of the optimal home self-management evidence for elderly ostomy patients. Systematic review registration: Identifier ES20246036.